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Tory pollster rebuked for misleading campaign against MP Irwin Cotler

Liberals are demanding an apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper after a Conservative pollster was censured for conducting a misinformation campaign against MP Irwin Cotler.

A Tory pollster has been censured for conducting a misleading campaign against MP Irwin Cotler.
(Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

By Joan BrydenThe Canadian Press

Wed., Nov. 28, 2012

OTTAWA—Liberals are demanding an apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper after a Conservative pollster was censured for conducting a misinformation campaign against MP Irwin Cotler.

An investigation by the market research industry’s watchdog concluded Wednesday that the actions of Campaign Research Inc., brought the industry into disrepute.

“The actions of Campaign Research have likely caused the Canadian public to lose confidence in marketing research and have tarnished the image of the marketing research profession,” says a ruling by three-member panel of the Market Research and Intelligence Association.

The complaints related to a voter identification poll the company conducted last autumn on behalf of the federal Conservative party in Cotler’s Montreal riding.

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The company’s callers suggested to constituents — falsely — that Cotler either had or was about to quit as the Liberal MP for Mount Royal.

Cotler said the Conservatives must now take responsibility for the conduct of their pollster.

“I think they should be severing their ties with the firm that undertook these acts on their behalf,” he said.

The panel was particularly disturbed by a television interview with Campaign Research principal Nick Kouvalis in which he insisted his company had followed the rules and pointed to its gold seal status with the MRIA as proof.

“We observe that Mr. Kouvalis . . . used Campaign Research’s gold seal certification and its MRIA membership to attempt to convince the Canadian public that Campaign Research did nothing wrong in carrying out the voter identification project in Mount Royal,” the panel said, calling that a “blatant contravention” of the code.

Kouvalis was Mayor Rob Ford’s former deputy campaign manager and chief of staff.

When Cotler first complained a year ago about the polling being done in his riding, government House leader Peter Van Loan defended it as a routine matter of identifying Conservative support in Mount Royal.

“The fact is this has been going on as long as politics in this country,” Van Loan told the House of Commons. “It is a normal part of politics in this country and it’s not a kind of speech that should begin to be chilled at this point.”

He was unrepentant Wednesday, dodging Liberal questions about the MRIA’s ruling by saying that Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer ruled on the matter last December and, hence, there is nothing more to say.

“It’s a settled issue,” Van Loan insisted.

Cotler had asked Scheer to find that the polling impaired his ability to carry out his duties as an MP. Scheer ruled that the tactic was “reprehensible” but that he was powerless to do anything about it.

According to a script provided to the MRIA panel by Campaign Research, callers told respondents: “I am calling on behalf of the Conservative party of Canada and the reason I am calling is to ask if Stephen Harper can count on your support in the upcoming election.”

If asked what election was upcoming, the caller was to add: “Some people are suggesting that the current MP may retire so we’re calling on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada to ask you if you would consider supporting the Conservative party of Canada if there is a byelection.”

The MRIA is a voluntary body with limited powers to police the market research industry. However, it can suspend or expel members who violate its code of conduct, depending on the number and seriousness of the violations.

The panel did not recommend going that far with Campaign Research, although it said the company violated three provisions of the code and that the violations were “more serious than a minor transgression.”

It settled on censuring Campaign Research, which essentially amounts to a public rebuke.

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